Get iplayer

get_iplayer is a free and Open Source program released under the GNU GPL that allows you to access content from the BBC iPlayer. It is primarily used to capture video (TV) and audio (Radio) broadcasts. You are able to capture these media files from both the archived watch/listen again iPlayer as well as live streams. The media files captured are the actual source files transmitted by the BBC iPlayer.

Currently the BBC iplayer live streams are transmitted at 320kpbs. However, only BBC Radio 3 & BBC 6 Music does so with full frequency range. Thus, there is still an imposed 15-16kHz frequency cut-off for all other stations. The listen again iPlayer transmits at 128kbps.

The reason for highlighting the use of the get_iplayer is that the quality is as good as we have ever been able to get. Even a 128kbps M4A (AAC) file sounds excellent and of comparable quality to the very best FM recording. And with the 320kbps broadcasts the audio is truly excellent. Therefore, this is the recommend way to record BBC content.

Capturing & Preparing BBC Radio Shows

Windows OS

Required Programs

• get_iplayer
• MP3DirectCut (requires the libfaad2.dll to be installed)
• MP4Box
• A good tagging program such as Foobar2000 or MP3tag

Steps

1. Run get_iplayer and use the appropriate commands to capture the content you want:
   • Live iPlayer Streams (these are broadcasts/transmissions that are going out live on the BBC station)
     • get_iplayer --type=liveradio --get 80131 --stop=02:10:10 --force --attempts=5 --raw --ffmpeg-liveradio-opts="-bsf:a aac_adtstoasc"
       • the above command captures 2 hours 10 minutes and 10 seconds of the live transmission from the BBC Radio 1 station once the get_iplayer program has been sent the command.
       • the --start and --stop parameters are hh:mm:ss. This enables you to schedule a recording without having to do it live. Multiple instances of get_iplayer can also be scheduled to run. And using a Windows scheduler allows you to set up weekly repeats.
   • Listen Again iPlayer Stream
     • get_iplayer --type=radio --pid=b006wkfp
       • the above command captures the audio that relates to the program with the pid as defined above.
2. You will most likely need to edit the audio to remove unwanted parts from the start and end. You can losslessly do this with MP3DirectCut. It is vital to use a lossless / non-destructive audio editor to preserve the audio quality; otherwise you will decode and then re-encode (aka transcode) and further compress the file. However, MP3DirectCut only works on AAC (and MP3) files and not the M4A format, so you will need to unpackage the M4A file using MP4Box to extract the raw AAC file.
   • Run MP4Box with the following commands:
     • mp4box -raw 1 input.m4a -out output.aac
   • Or better yet, create a batch script to make the process easier. Create a folder called m4a2aac2ma4. Copy the following into a file named m4a2aac.bat and place the file into the folder you have just created (you might need to first make the file a text file and then change the .txt to .bat):
     • @echo off

   mkdir aac

   for %%f in (*.m4a) do mp4box -raw 1 "%%f" -out "aac\%%f.aac"

   • So now all you have to do is place the captured .m4a file into the m4a2aac2m4a folder, run the m4a2aac.bat batch script and you will find the extracted AAC file in a sub-folder called \m4a2aac2ma4\aac.
3. Run MP3DirectCut and open the extracted AAC file and make the necessary edits. Make sure you save your changes.
4. The AAC file must now be repackaged back into a M4A container to ensure correct playback and compatibility with media players (and to allow you to tag the file).
   • Run MP4Box with the following commands:
     • mp4box -add input.aac output.m4a -new
   • Or better yet, create a batch script like above to make the process easier. Copy the following into a file named aac2m4a.bat and save the file into the folder \m4a2aac2ma4\aac:
     • @echo off

   mkdir m4a

   for %%f in (*.aac) do mp4box -add "%%f" "m4a\%%f.m4a" -new

   • Run the aac2m4a.bat batch script and you will find the repackaged M4A file in a sub-folder \m4a2aac2ma4\aac\m4a.
5. Using your preferred tagging tool (we recommend Foobar2000 or MP3Tag) add the appropriate tags.
   • Take pride in your uploads by tagging them correctly. It helps the grateful listeners organise their media files.
6. Optional part: Replaygain the file. In Foobar2000 you can do this by adding Replaygain tags or even permanently apply the Replaygain changes to the actual file, meaning all media players will play the file at this adjusted loudness.
7. Upload to TMB, sit back and have thousands download and admire your great work... or get a few thumbsup :-P

Troubleshooting

• To re-mux without transcoding a .ts Transport Stream file to an M4A file use the following FFmpeg command:
  • ffmpeg -i input.ts -acodec copy -acodec copy out.m4a
• To re-mux without transcoding a .ts Transport Stream file to an AAC file use the following FFmpeg command:
  • ffmpeg -i input.ts -acodec copy output.aac
• When you forcibly kill a get_iplayer session when it is capturing content (leaving you with a file with the extension .ts), the above command is unlikely to work. This Transport Stream file will need to have it's bitstream filter fixed and then packaged to an M4A or MP4 file in order to adequately use it. You can do this with FFmpeg:
  • ffmpeg -i "input.ts" -c:a copy -c:a copy -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc "output.m4a"
    • get_iplayer installs FFmpeg as part of it's own installation.

Download

• Github get_iplayer official repository
• Squarepenguin website - a nicely designed website that mirrors the Github site

Further Reading

• Official BBC Audio Factory project info
• Audio Factory explained by an audiophile